Today we have opened another Montreal Gallery: Photos of our City Tour, https://cohen.1g.fi/kuvat/Montreal+Memo ... City+Tour/
About 100 members participated in this whole day bus tour guided by Eva Poola and Chris Karl.
Some 150 photos from Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue, Leonard's childhood home, Parc du Portugal, Chapel de Notre Dame de Bonsecours, and more...

Today we have opened the Memorial Tribute Photo Gallery. It covers all artists of the concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal on November 6.
More than 100 photos by Wendy Marshall, Albert Noonan, Henry Tengelsen, and others.
This Gallery is at https://cohen.1g.fi/kuvat/Montreal+Memo ... v+6,+2017/

Photos in this Gallery cannot be downloaded.
Title photo in this post by Christof Graf

I listened to CBC2 this morning in Beijing and (of course) recorded the 2-hour special programme. My ears tell me that the concert is speechless beautiful. My eyes are looking forward to CBC tele on 3 Jan, 2018.

PS: Anyone who went to live have got good memory to write down the whole setlist? Thx

I’ve sung in the Shaar Hashomayim Choir for 25 years and, to nobody’s shock, have accumulated precisely zero groupies or autograph requests. It’s a fun gig and great musical training, but it’s never been cool. Until two years ago, when a gust of fate lifted our choir into a recording studio for Leonard Cohen’s final record. What followed was a media twister of performances at major Montreal clubs, a trip to Los Angeles, an outdoor concert in front of 80,000 people, a museum exhibit, and singing onstage at the Bell Centre alongside Sting and Elvis Costello.

In October 2015, I was having coffee with the synagogue choir’s music director, Roï Azoulay, when, out of the blue, came this question: “Do you like Leonard Cohen?”

“Great writer. Honestly, I never got into his stuff that deeply. Why do you ask?”

“Well, he wants us to sing on his next record.”

Boom.

Turns out Cohen’s family had been long-standing members of the Shaar Hashomayim synagogue. Its cantor, Gideon Zelermyer, had kept up a friendly email correspondence with Cohen, and when Leonard and son Adam were looking for a vocal sound on the next album, our choir’s professional sound plus the sentimental connection to Cohen’s past made us the perfect choice.

Shaar Hashomayim Choir singer Lorne Shapiro (pictured at the Westmount synagogue) was caught off-guard when he was told the choir would be contributing to an album by Leonard Cohen. That was just the start of a two-year whirlwind. (Photo: Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette)

All I knew was that I was going to be on a record with the guy who wrote Hallelujah, Suzanne and So Long, Marianne. Unbelievable! I was also told that Cohen’s health was declining, which meant this wasn’t simply another Leonard Cohen record. It was, in all likelihood, going to be the final Leonard Cohen record.

We were going to be working with Adam Cohen, and were instructed to keep all news of this project hush-hush. Our first scheduled recording was the curiously titled You Want It Darker. We rehearsed our parts, but singing Oooohs and bursts of “Magnified, sanctified! Vilified, crucified!” without lead vocals left us with no idea what the heck this was.

I first met Adam in the control room an hour before recording. He’s a sleeker version of his dad, but with a similarly eloquent baritone. Any fear I had of him being an entitled brat evaporated quickly. I mentioned how much I liked his song We Go Home. He deflected the compliment, joking about how his label had tried to brand him into a pop star. He also chuckled at his dad’s diplomatic but restrained enthusiasm over the song. First impression: nice, self-deprecating, easygoing guy.

Adam Cohen (pictured at the Tower of Song tribute concert at the Bell Centre in November) was an inviting presence in the studio for the Shaar Hashomayim Choir members. (Photo: Michel Couvrette / Evenko)

Recording the harmonies for You Want It Darker took about six hours, settling into a pattern of stand, sing and wait for Adam’s reaction. A tepid head shake or a so-so hand gesture meant do it again. A two-handed thumbs-up with a smile meant we nailed it. I remember the epiphany of hearing Leonard Cohen’s whispery baritone rumbling through the headsets as I sang, and thinking, “This isn’t a karaoke version. We’re making the actual record!”

At one point, Adam walked out into the recording area. “Guys, can I ask you a favour? Would you mind saying hi to my dad? It would mean a lot to him.” Uh … well, sure. “OK, on the count of three, everybody say ‘Hi Leonard!’ ” Adam held up his phone, and on cue we all yelled, “Hi Leonard!”

When Leonard Cohen died, the Shaar Hashomayim Choir (pictured at the synagogue) was flown to Los Angeles to sing at the family’s private memorial. (Photo: Graham Hughes)

Once that song and It Seemed the Better Way were recorded, our job was done. I spent the next six months browsing the internet, reading rumours about a top-secret Leonard Cohen project, enjoying my position as a secret insider. On Sept. 21, his 82nd birthday, the song You Want It Darker was released to the world. (The album of the same name followed a month later.) After half a year of silence, there we were, our voices sounding amazingly upfront and ominous. Major publications had glowing reviews. YouTube videos exploded with comments. And there was my voice, sandwiched within the moody harmony.

And then, less than seven weeks later, Leonard Cohen died. You Want It Darker became what it was always meant to be: a profound farewell. Tributes were organized and the invitations started coming in. We were asked to perform at Metropolis and the Rialto. We were flown to Los Angeles to sing at the family’s private memorial, in a synagogue that offered Judaism, California style: prayer in the front, a café and pizza oven in the back.

The choir was hired to re-record the backup vocals to Cohen’s entire I’m Your Man album for an exhibit currently showing at the Musée d’art contemporain. You can see and hear us on a life-size screen while the lead vocals are spoken/sung by 18 older men on separate screens. I had the surreal experience of going to the exhibit and watching myself onscreen with the choir while tour guides explained our story to groups of Cohen fans.

In the wake of the Shaar Hashomayim Choir’s performances on Leonard Cohen’s final album, Lorne Shapiro found himself singing in front of 80,000 people in a free outdoor concert and in November’s all-star tribute to Cohen at the Bell Centre. (Photo: Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette)

In August we performed You Want It Darker as part of Montreal’s 375th-anniversary mega-concert on the mountain. We were accompanied by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal on an outdoor stage, watched by 80,000 people on a hot summer night. It doesn’t get more awe-inspiring than that.

In September we were told about an upcoming Bell Centre performance. By then, the choir had almost two years of experience performing on various stages alongside many well-known local artists. We assumed this concert was another Montreal 375th thing, entered the date on Google Calendar and forgot about it. Two weeks later, my dad told me the concert was a tribute to Leonard Cohen called Tower of Song. Big artists were performing, and had I ever heard of someone named “Sting”?

Say what?

Yes, we were going to perform with Sting and Elvis Costello, two of my all-time favourite musicians. I had it all planned out: Sting’s guitarist breaks a finger and Costello’s backup singer calls in sick. I casually mention my guitar and vocal skills. Both gentlemen ask me to go on tour.

Sting performs at the Tower of Song tribute to Leonard Cohen at the Bell Centre in November. (Photo: Claude Dufresne / Evenko)

Truthfully, I had no idea what would happen when I showed up to the Bell Centre the night before the concert for rehearsal. There was music coming from the stage when I arrived. I walked into the cavernous arena, turned toward the stage next to me and saw … Sting. For the next hour, I enjoyed a semi-private concert as he and the musicians worked on his three numbers to an almost-empty arena, stopping, starting, joking, mostly all business. The few dozen of us on the empty floor kept a respectful distance. So did Sting. He finished his set and left, forgetting to invite me to tour with him.

The day of the concert was spent shuffling artists and equipment through corridors and onto the stage. The acts were housed in rooms with each artist’s name printed on paper Scotch-taped to their door. I followed the rooms, past “k.d. lang,” “Damien Rice” and “Feist,” until I found the door with the sign “Shaar Hashomayim Choir.”

During the long afternoon, I had a chance to bump into other artists. Feist was charming and warm. Seth Rogen was personable and funny, exactly the same as he projects in his films. Ron Sexsmith politely accommodated a few selfie requests, though he managed to avoid smiling in any of them. Sting and I renewed our passing acquaintance: we passed each other going on and off stage during rehearsals.

Elvis Costello proved to be warm and personable backstage at the Tower of Song tribute to Leonard Cohen. (Michel Couvrette / Evenko)

The show started. Many of the artists clustered together in the entranceway to watch. Adam Cohen’s beautiful version of So Long, Marianne became, for me, the night’s emotional climax when he read the letter his father wrote to the real Marianne as they were both dying. K.d. lang’s magnificent rendition of Hallelujah was the musical highlight. Finally, it was our turn. Kind of. We walked onstage, sung the first verse of Tower of Song, then turned around and exited 30 seconds later, as pre-recorded singers continued on the screens above, leaving the audience wondering who we were and why we disappeared so quickly.

I got backstage and spotted Elvis Costello. He was standing alone. I walked up to him and said, “I have to thank you. The first song I ever sang with a band was yours.” He asked which one. “Welcome to the Working Week,” I said. He laughed: “Man, that was an old one!” He was warm and personable, and apparently having a grand old time at this event. We talked music, complimented the other artists, and took a couple of group photos with the choir. A lovely guy.

The choir still had one song to do: You Want It Darker. That song — a collection of our greatest hit — had given us a small asterisk in the Leonard Cohen songbook and had brought us here, where we were about to perform it at the Bell Centre right after Sting. His song finished, and the rock icon known to millions walked offstage. The choir known to hundreds walked on. For the 10th time in the past 24 hours, our paths crossed, and he smiled and tapped each of us on the shoulder. Me and Sting — colleagues, at least for one night.

Members of the Shaar Hashomayim Choir pose backstage at the Bell Centre with k.d. lang and Feist. Lorne Shapiro is leaning over at the far right. (Photo: courtesy of the Shaar Hashomayim Choir)

We clanked up the steps onto the stage and took our positions. I looked around at the crowd and thought, “Well, isn’t this cool.”

One job left: we had to come in perfectly on cue and on pitch in front of 15,000 people to start the song. Roï focused on the cue coming through his headset and brought us in. Our harmonies began, the orchestra entered, and then Cohen’s pre-recorded spectral voice proclaimed its presence to the packed arena. Four glorious minutes later, it was done.

As we filed off, I turned to the screen in back with the image of Leonard Cohen looking down from a penthouse window. I looked up, blew him a kiss, and left the stage. Thanks, Mr. Cohen, for inviting us to your party.

Seems Julian Lennon was backstage during the Tower of Song tribute to Leonard in Montreal. He took some stunning portraits of the participating artists which now appear on his Instagram account. Check it out here: https://www.instagram.com/julespicturepalace/

I listened to CBC2 this morning in Beijing and (of course) recorded the 2-hour special programme. My ears tell me that the concert is speechless beautiful. My eyes are looking forward to CBC tele on 3 Jan, 2018.

PS: Anyone who went to live have got good memory to write down the whole setlist? Thx